California Child Endangerment Attorney

Are you facing a child endangerment charge in California? Get in touch with a California child endangerment attorney who will fight for you, no matter what.

What Is Child Endangerment?

Child endangerment happens when a parent or caregiver willfully places their child in a dangerous situation, or where a child could be exposed to unjustifiable pain or suffering. Even if the child is left unharmed, a person could still be faced with child endangerment charges.

Situations that would apply include leaving a loaded gun out where a child could reach for it or not putting dangerous drugs away and potentially exposing them to a child. It could also not getting medical treatment for a sick child or leaving a child alone for an extended period of time. Many times, child endangerment cases are linked to domestic violence, since the child is at risk of being harmed in these situations.

“I felt like I was in nightmare. Chris literally saved my life.” – Jesus L.

Proving You Committed Child Endangerment

The elements of a child endangerment crime include willfully inflicting pain or suffering on a child who was under your care, causing or permitting their health to be injured, or putting them into a situation where their health was being endangered. The prosecutor must show that these elements of the crime existed in your case, and you were acting out of negligence when the child was endangered or suffered.

If you are the parent of the child, the prosecutor needs to show that you were not reasonably disciplining your child. For example, if you raised your voice and told your child to stop because they were running into the street, this would be reasonable. But if you beat your child until they suffered from bruises because they ran into the street, this would be unreasonable.

Penalties for Child Endangerment

You could be charged with misdemeanor child endangerment if the child was not at risk for great bodily injury or death. This punishment includes up to one year in county jail as well as a fine of up to $1,000. If the child was at risk for great bodily harm or death, then you could receive a misdemeanor or felony charge.

If you’re charged with a felony, your punishment could include two, four, or six years in state prison, as well as a fine of up to $10,000. For a misdemeanor or felony conviction, you might have to go on probation, be subject to a restraining order, undergo random drug testing, and be required to attend mandatory counseling. You could also be put on informal summary probation for a misdemeanor offense or formal felony probation for a felony offense. If you inflicted a great bodily injury on the child, then three to six years could be added to your sentence, and if you were negligent and it caused the death of the child, you could get an additional four years in state prison added to your sentence.

“From the moment I met Chris, I knew I was in good hands.” – Kevin H.

Defending Yourself Against a Child Endangerment Charge

There is a way to defend yourself against a child endangerment charge with the help of an experienced child endangerment attorney. Defenses include not endangering the child on purpose, acting in a way that were reasonably disciplining your child, a false accusation, or saying that someone else was responsible for the child at the time the incident occurred.

Parents and caregivers are not perfect 100% of the time, and they can sometimes have a lapse in judgment that leads to a child being placed in harm’s way. This could be a defense depending on the circumstances of the case. The child may have also suffered from an injury due to an accident and not to negligence.

Contact California Child Endangerment Attorney CBS Law

If you are being charged with child endangerment, then it’s time to reach out to a child endangerment attorney who will defend you and work hard on your behalf. That’s CBS Law.

Want to learn more about what CBS Law can do for you? Then contact us for your free 60-minute consultation by calling (213) 800-8005 or getting in touch on our website. CBS Law is here for you 24/7, and we’ll work hard on your case to ensure justice is served. We are looking forward to helping you with your child endangerment charge in California.

“Do NOT speak to law enforcement or investigators about your child endangerment charges, as that information can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

Christopher J. Bou Saeed Founding Attorney of CBS Law